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Battle!

Permanent event at The Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden

9 November 2017

Battle! Courtesy of The Vasa Museum

Vasa never showed her strength in battle, but she was a fearsome machine of war.

In this exhibition, you can see the arsenal of weapons and accoutrements found on board Vasa – weapons which were never used. By following the crew through five acts, from conscription to training to fighting and death, you can experience how it was before, during and after a sea battle around 1628.

The commanders' orders to the crew form the overarching theme of the exhibition. You can also feel the form and weight of the different weapons and see how they were used. In this way you will have your own experience of the officers' and crew's equipment: orders and weapons.

The presence of the enemy can be felt, in sculptures on board the ship and in propaganda images in the exhibition. The short distances between friend and enemy, life and death were clear in battle. The damage and wounds caused by weapons, the crew's movements in battle, can be felt.

Around 1.5 million visitors every year enjoy the exhibitions in the museum, which describe the people on board and life at the time; how, after 333 years at the bottom of Stockholm bay, the ship was rediscovered and salvaged; and the research which is now underway to preserve Vasa.